


Deceptively Sweet

by DizzyDisaster, IronicallyIdiotic (DizzyDisaster)



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Enemies to Friends, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Main Focus is still Gen/Akihana though, May be a little OOC, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Teen Romance, We will get to the Stone World stuff though, a lot of flash back pre petrification, but that's more in the background, but thats fine, eventually, how did i even get here, i'm just making this up as i go, im a sucker for fluff tbh, this somehow also became a Senku fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23485897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDisaster/pseuds/DizzyDisaster, https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDisaster/pseuds/IronicallyIdiotic
Summary: Hashimoto Akihana only knew one thing. How to be kind. So when she sees a boy walking down the street with a look hidden exhaustion, there's only one thing she can do. Be kind. She never thought her kindness would stick with him. She never thought that they would become friends. She never thought she would find herself in love with him. She never thought that she would spend 3700 years trapped in stone. She never thought she would see him again. But there he was, her Asagiri Gen, a bowl of ramen in his hand as a smug as ever. She never should have thought that anything could keep them apart.
Relationships: Asagiri Gen/Hashimoto Akihana (OC), Asagiri Gen/Original Female Character(s), Ishigami Senkuu & Original Female Character(s), Ishigami Senkuu/Hashimoto Miyuki (OC), Ishimagi Senkuu/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO, before I begin, I just want to say that I have watched the anime, but I'm only in volume 4 of the manga. I really needed to get this out of my head and onto the internet... for some reason before I lost my mind. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Asagiri Gen traveled swiftly across the dense forest of what was once known as Japan, his feet carrying him quickly but quietly as not to alert any of the predators lurking in the foliage of his presence as a potential meal. It didn’t seem all that long ago that Tsukasa Shishio had awaked him from his stone slumber, and now he had been sent on a mission to search out a man named Senku whom Tsukasa had murdered in his attempt to thwart the arrival of scientific advancement in this world once again claimed by nature.

You see, Tsukasa’s vision was a simple one. He thought that the world would be a better place if those filled with greedy desires were left to crumble in their stone prisons. This Senku person had been killed for this very reason. Ironic, seeing as he had awakened Gen who considered himself very greedy in that he only ever looked out for himself. Well mostly himself. There was one person who he held above even himself. And this is where Tsukasa had made a grave mistake in sending Gen on this mission. 

The words had flowed so sweetly from Tsukasa’s lips. 

_ “If Senku is still alive, it is possible that he is accompanied by a young woman named Akihana.” _

Gen’s breath had hitched in his throat, but he had kept his composure. He was a magician and mentalist after all. Misdirection and misconception were his weapons of choice. 

_ Akihana. _

He refused to let hope bubble up in him at the velvet name caressing his ears. It could very well be that this Akihana was an entirely different person and that his bright flower still slept coldly in stone. He sought out Taiju and Yuzuriha first, being careful that no one of importance saw him as he was well aware of the circumstances that brought the two into Tsukasa’s empire in the first place.

“Akihana? What about her?” was Taiju’s question when asked about the girl.

“Oh, I was just curious,” Gen had remarked with an air of nonchalance. “Tsukasa had mentioned her is all.”

Yuzuriha had been wary of him but gave in to his request. “She woke up before either of us. She was in the gardening club in highschool. Her knowledge of plants and their medicinal properties helped us when we got scraped up too bad. And she was an excellent cook, too.”

The hope in his heart rose to the surface, trying to suffocate him with joy. It could just very well be her, but the words that had come from Taiju’s mouth pained him to his very core. 

“She said she would rather die than live as a part of Tsukasa’s empire.”

Gen had rushed off into the woods shortly after that. 

It did not take him long to find this village, rushing into a clearing full of people eagerly surrounding what looked to him like a food cart. The familiar smell of ramen wafted over to him, tantalizing his taste buds. He sat quietly for a short while, watching the people of this tiny village enjoy their meals. 

A familiar laugh caught his ear and that’s when he saw her. Eyes as bright as amber honey and hair as black as night. She bore the evidence of her petrification on her face just as he did. A delicate line beginning in the hollow of her collar bone before trailing up the nape of her neck, encircling her ear and finally resting as a swirl on the apple of her left cheek. 3700 years had done nothing to dull her beauty.

He slipped carefully into the throng of villagers, deftly picking up a bowl of ramen and seating himself on a rock to continue to observe everyone in silence. It was as a little girl wearing the rind of a watermelon on her head questioned one of the villagers about how many bowls of ramen he had had that Gen decided it was time to reveal himself. He also just couldn’t wait any longer. 

He smirked, slurping up more of the noodles into his mouth. “Makes a man thirsty. What I wouldn’t give for a cola right now.”

Akihana froze in the middle ladling broth atop another bowl of noodles, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Senku had also paused in shock. She turned slowly, her heart thudding in her chest.  _ She knew that voice.  _ Akihana lifted her eyes and met the gaze of the one person she had only dared to hope to see again. And there he was standing in front of her, outwardly changed, but still as cocky as always. 

She smiled brightly. Not even 3700 years could keep them apart. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story behind Akihana's name: SO IT IS IN MY UNDERSTANDING (but I could be entirely wrong) that "Aki" is a Japanese name that means bright, and "Hana" means flower, so I just shoved them together so that her name would mean bright flower... y'know... because black nightshade grows in the sun so it's a bright flower. It's STUPID I KNOW, but let me be corny.
> 
> So that's the end of the prologue. I know I'm technically starting this in the middle of the story, but don't worry. It'll all make sense I promise. Everything from here on out should be fairly chronological, starting with how Akihana and Gen meet. :)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! And I hope you all stay safe in quarantine!


	2. Chapter One

_ One Year Before the World is Petrified _

It was strangely quiet in Shibuya, the soft pitter-patter of the footsteps of those still wandering the city the only sounds she could hear. It was slightly chilly, and as the wind blew she pulled her cardigan tighter around herself before relaxing further into the hammock swing that sat comfortably amongst the plant-covered balcony of her family apartment. She’d been watching him for quite some time now. He walked slowly, lost in thought as he idly played with a deck of cards. She thought he looked sad. No, not sad, just lonely. He hid it well, his shoulders straightening in confidence and charisma whenever a passerby glanced his way, but the charisma faltered as soon as he thought no one was looking. She smiled in understanding, well aware of the toll of putting on a mask.

His slow trek through the streets of Shibuya brought him ever closer to her. She rose from her creature comforts, silently opening the sliding patio door and tiptoeing through the house so as not to wake any of the other members of her family on her trip to their front door. Picking up the keys hanging on the cat-shaped hook with his stripped tail hanging down and quickly slipping her feet into a pair flats, she opened the front door of her apartment as quietly as she could, taking care to ensure that she closed it as softly as she possible and quickly locking it behind her. She hurried down the stairs as lightly as she could, the bottom reaching a back alley full of old cardboard produce boxes waiting to be recycled. Fishing the keys out of her pocket, she turned the lock of the steel door that led into the back of the restaurant her family lived atop of. The door was pulled open, and she winced when it creaked as it scraped against the asphalt ground. She waited for a second, making sure that she couldn’t see the light of her parent’s bedroom flicker on through their window. When her family remained in their quiet slumber, she rushed into the restaurant and pulled the door closed behind her. 

The back door of the restaurant led into the kitchen, which held a view of the dining room through a large window and a small swinging door that made it easier to open when you were loaded down with plates of food. She pushed through the door and looked through the large windows at the front of the restaurant for any sign of the boy. He was still wandering wistfully down the sidewalk, but he was getting closer every second. She rushed back into the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator door and grabbed a plastic container filled with broth and a bundle of noodles that hadn’t been used earlier in the day. Two pots were placed on the stovetop, one was filled with water and the other filled with the broth. As she waited for them to come to a boil she ran back out into the dining room to look out the front windows. The boy was just passing by, his focus set solely on the deck of cards in his hands. 

She flipped the latch on the front door and rushed out onto the sidewalk, the bell on the door jingling behind her. The boy paused at the noise to turn and observe her cooly. Her amber eyes were widened, and her dark hair was held up in a messy bun She wore a pink fuzzy cardigan that fell down to her knees over a simple tank top and pair of leggings. He looked much more put together than she did. His black hair was longer to one side and swept over his right cheekbone and bringing attention to his gray eyes that reflected the lights of the city. He wore a black button-down tucked snuggly into a pair of black skinny jeans and on his feet were a pair of dress shoes. He was the most beautiful person that she had ever seen.

The boy hummed softly, alerting her to the realization that she had been caught staring a little longer than was considered proper. She smiled shyly, looking down at the concrete of the sidewalk as though it were the most interesting thing on this planet. 

He smirked, raising a brow as he looked at the sheepish girl in front of him, “Can I help you?” Oh good god, his voice was like velvet.

She perked up, suddenly remembering the mission that had brought her out onto the streets of Tokyo in the first place. “Oh! Yeah, erm, sorry- I just- so don’t freak out or anything. I just- I saw you, from- um- from there,” she gestured towards the balcony above them, the mass of flora evident even from this angle, “and I- uh- Do you want some ramen?”

The boy stared at her in shock for a grand total of two seconds before slipping that charismatic smirk back onto his face and turning to continue on his leisurely walk. “Sorry, I don’t take handouts from fans.”

She gaped at his retreating form, her brows furrowing in hurt and annoyance. Fan? What was he going on about? “Sorry to have to take a shot at that ego of yours, but I have no clue who you are.” 

He froze, once again turning to observe this girl who had run out into the Tokyo night to meet him. He looked her over, looking for any sign of a lie, but all he found was the girl with her arms crossed, her brow raised and emanating nothing but the truth.

“Then why...?” he began, allowing his charismatic mask to fall and allow his confusion to seep through.

She shrugged and held out her hand form him to take, “As I was trying to say, I saw you and you just really looked you needed a bowl of ramen and someone to talk to. Besides,” she giggled slightly, “it’s free food. Who in their right mind would turn that down?”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to talk to strangers?”

“Eh, probably, but I was also taught to be kind, and that tends to override any survival instincts I have. That’s... probably not a good thing now that I think about it...”

He huffed out a small laugh and took her outstretched hand. She felt her breath hitch slightly, it was barely any bigger than her own, and just nearly as dainty and much more dexterous. She smiled brightly, “I’m Akihana, by the way.”

He nodded and flashed her a more genuine smile, “Gen.”

Grinning once more, Akihana opened the door, the bell tingling brightly in the night as she pulled him through into the restaurant, the sign humbly labeled  _ Hashimoto Ramen House  _ swayed gently above them as they closed themselves off from the cool night air of Shibuya. It was going to be a good night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer  
> All of my knowledge of Shibuya comes from The World Ends With You, so if I get anything wrong blame, Tetsuya Nomura. Great game. You should all go play it. The Final Remix is on the Switch. Tetsuya Nomura really loves naming his remastered games Final MIxes. Such an oddly wonderful man.


	3. Chapter Two

_ Hashimoto Ramen House  _ was the pride and joy of Hashimoto Toshiro. He, along with his wife Izumi, had run the restaurant for twenty years. Akihana had grown up knowing nothing but ramen, to the point that she felt her very blood was made up of bone broth. Toshiro prided himself in his work. Every bowl of ramen had to be made with ingredients fresh ingredients that had been made the same day. There were no day-old noodles or week-old broth in the ramen of Hashimoto Toshiro. Which is why if he knew that his daughter had snuck out in the middle of the night to feed a boy reheated  _ Tonkatsu,  _ he would more faint from the shock of her culinary sins rather than the fact that she was alone with a strange boy.

Gen was seated in a foldable plastic chair at the steel table that sat in the center of the kitchen watching her prepare his meal. She admitted it wasn’t the most comfortable of things to sit on, but she wanted to avoid turning on the lights in the dining room and passersby coming to see if the restaurant was open. The water and broth had been boiling when they had come in, Akihana setting herself to work by setting the noodles in the hot water to begin cooking. She walked over to the fridge and pulled out scallions, bean sprouts, pork belly, fish cakes, a soft boiled egg, and a few sheets of nori. Her father may not have liked using leftovers for ramen, but there was no way he would ever let food go to waste. She pulled out a chopped board and a chef’s knife, chopping away at the scallions and slicing the egg in half and the pork belly and fish cakes nice and thin. Akihana worked quickly, seeing as she had been raised in the kitchen all of her life, and was done with the preparation of the topping by the time noodles were finished. She turned off the burner under the pot of noodles and fished them out with the skimmer and plopped them into a bowl. Simply out of habit, she took a pair of metallic chopsticks and twirled the noodles before folding them under themselves so that their presentation looked nice. She went about placing the toppings on the noodles. First came the pork belly, two slices with on top of the other. Then came the fish cakes. Her mother insisted that they use the kind that looked like flowers, so onto the noodles went two blossoms made of fish paste. Next was the egg, the slightly runny yolk running out onto the warm noodles. After that came the bean sprouts, behind which she neatly tucked two sheets of nori. Atop of everything she sprinkled the chopped scallions, and lastly, she ladled the reheated pork bone broth into the bowl before sliding it over to Gen along with a pair of bamboo chopsticks. 

Akihana smiled, “There we go. One bowl of tonkatsu ramen.” 

She watched as Gen snapped open his chopsticks and picked up his noodles. He nodded and smirked, “ _ Itadakimasu,”  _ and popped the noodles into his mouth and began slurping them up hungrily. Akihana waited with bated breath for his reaction and watched his eyes widen as the flavors finally hit his tongue. 

Her eyes glued themselves to the tiled floor of the kitchen when she saw his look of shock. Her dad was right then. It was always better to use fresh ingredients. It probably tasted a little off now that everything had had time to cool off in the fridge before she had cooked it. She sighed and started playing with the cuff of her cardigan, “Sorry if it’s not that great. Dad never likes to work with leftover ingredients, but I just saw you looking so  _ lonely _ and I just thought that a good meal would help and those were the only things I could get my hands on and-”

“What are you going on about?” This is one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth.”

Akihana popped up from her staring contest with the floor to see the boy she had dragged into her family restaurant to see him munching happily on his meal, continuing to loudly slurp the noodles into his mouth.

“Really?”

Gen nodded. “Mmmhmmm,” he mumbled through a mouthful of pork belly, almost as though he were trying to prove his point. He swallowed and looked up to meet her gaze. “Do you have any cola?” 

She grinned in delight, happy that she had pleased her lat night customer, and went about the task of grabbing a glass and filling it with Coke before setting it down in front of him. He muttered a “thank you” through another mouthful of food, and Akihana set herself to cleaning up the mess she had made in the kitchen. It had been her sister, Miyuki’s, turn to clean the kitchen at closing, and if their father came down to prepare for opening up tomorrow and saw his kitchen in this state then Miyuki would never hear the end of it. She would rather keep her sister from getting an earful from their father when the mess was her responsibility anyway. 

Akihana finished cleaning the kitchen in the time it took for Gen to finish his meal. She took his bowl and quickly cleaned it before coming around to lean her hip on the table with her arms crossed in front of her. At this angle, Gen had to look up to be able to able to look her in the eye.

“Do you mind if I draw while we talk?”

Gen didn’t expect this request. A woman of many talents it seemed. He dipped his head to show his consent and her responding beaming face was so bright it was as though the sun or Aurora Borealis was localized entirely within the kitchen. She grabbed another chair and sat it across from him at the table before rushing off to a cabinet and rummaging around to pull out a small sketchpad and a handful of colored pencils with erasers on their tips.

He raised a brow in question, “You just... keep those down here?”

“They’re my ‘emergency stash,’” she explained and sat down in her chair.

Gen had been observed many times in his life and had appeared on TV enough times to know what it was like to have thousands of people watching you. None of that had ever fazed him. Life in the spotlight had been made for him. But sitting across from this girl -this strange girl who somehow had no idea who he was and only acted out of the kindness of her heart to help someone who looked like they just really needed a friend- he had never felt more stripped down to his soul as Akihana sat her amber gaze upon him, eyes taking in every proportion and feature for what felt like an eternity. It made him shiver. 

She hummed, “You feel like a blue to me.” He had no what that was even supposed to mean, but she proceeded to pick up the aforementioned color from her collection of colored pencils and began confidently sketching away the lines that made up his face.

They sat in silence for a little bit, the only sound the soft scratching of her colored pencil against the paper of her pad. She would look at him every once in a while to study his face once more before turning her attention back to her pad. No word had left either of their mouths, and he was starting to get antsy.

“Are we going to say anything?”

Akihana looked up from her work and shrugged her shoulders, “I didn’t want to force you to talk if you didn’t want to; however, if you have something you want to say then I am more than willing to listen.”

She was the most confusing person he had ever met, and he had made it his living to understand people. “Why did you offer to be someone I could talk to talk to in the first place?”

She smirked, “Why did you accept?” Her work captured her attention once more but she continued to speak, “I mean, a strange girl in the middle of the night wanting to drag you into a quiet ramen shop with no reason other than that you looked lonely? I could be a murderer for all you know.” Her tone was playful, something he appreciated.

“Oh, come on. I took one good look at you and knew you weren’t even capable of hurting a fly.”

A small snicker left her lips, “I guess I wear my heart on my sleeve.”

Gen hummed in agreement, “Just a little. But I’m a mentalist. It’s my job to read people.” And he liked to think that he was very good at it too.

Akihana looked up at him once more, her eyes were now full of curiosity and wonder. “So you can read people’s -what’re they called?- microexpressions? Stuff like that?” It was a term that she was familiar with, but not one she had ever tried to research. She had read it in a book once when she had been waiting in the school library for Miyuki to stop flirting with whatever soul she had picked for the day so that they could hurry up and go home. Her sister could be very tiring sometimes.

Gen looked pleased when she said this, happy that she understood some of the basic principles of his work. “Yeah, something like that. A lot of it has to do with psychology, too. I wrote a book about it once, but it’s not the best example... I wasn’t really trying.”

“What do you use it for then? The psychology?”

“I’m a magician.”

Her eyes widened minimally in what he guessed was surprise at his occupation, but that was the only emotion that flashed across her face. “I don’t think I’ve seen a magician since I was - I dunno - twelve.” Seeing as she had no idea who he was, he could tell. “I liked those Americans Penn and Teller as a kid, though. Are you any good?”

Was he any...? He looked at her like she had two heads. Was he any good? Was  _ he  _ any good? He scoffed in mild disbelief but figured he shouldn’t hold it against her. “I guess good enough to be on TV a few times.”

Now she was really confused. He had written a book and been on TV but he had somehow managed to slip through her fingers. It wasn’t like she had never stepped foot in YouTube in her entire life -of course, most of her recommendations were for cats, plants, art, and food so magic shows weren’t exactly something she was going to actively seek out to watch- and Miyuki was constantly glued to the TV or her celebrity teen gossip. And yet here was in front of her, a stranger that she should have known. She liked it better like this, she thought. Instead of meeting him through the screen of a television, he was sitting right in front of her unhindered by any lense media would have her see him through. He was just genuine, as far as she could tell anyway. She was no mentalist like he was after all. 

“That’s where I came from actually. We were filming a late show and I just... decided I wanted to wander around the city for a while afterward.” The mask that hadn’t appeared since they had come in from the streets appeared once again. His shoulders straightened and that charismatic smirk found its way onto his lips. 

Akihana shrugged, “Yeah, it’s a nice night for a walk, I guess.”

“Are you- are you going to ask why?”

“Only if you want me to.”

Gen wasn’t used to people like her. People that would sit and wait for you to be ready for what you wanted to say. People that saw a lonely stranger on the street and offered them a meal and an ear. People that were just kind. 

“And what do you want, Akihana?” He was used to attention, he reveled in it, but not like this. Not how she was giving to him, pure and unaffected by the delusions of his fame. It was exhilarating. It was terrifying. “What do you get out of this?” 

“I’m not really sure,” she replied, her amber eyes catching his grey ones with a sincere expression. “A friend maybe, but only if you want to be.”

He smiled, not smirked, but smiled. A warm smile that seemed to take all of the loneliness that had made her drag him into her kitchen in the middle of the night in the first place. “I think I’d like that.”

The stairs outside creaked with the heavy sound of someone coming down, and both of the teens’ eyes widened in fear as they realized that there was a very real possibility of being caught. 

“ _ Akihana?  _ Akihana, is that you in there?”

“Oh, shit, it’s my dad.” 

Akihana lept up from her chair quickly, grabbing Gen by the arm and dragging him to the front door. She shoved the piece of paper that she had been doodling on in his hands. “Here! It’s for you anyway.” She opened the door and shoved him outside, the sound of the bell jingling covered up by the sound of the heavy steel back door screeching across the ground. Akihana sent him one last bright grin through the glass before locking the door and turning to face her father.

Gen could just barely make out what was being said.

“ _ Akihana,  _ what in the world are you doing down here so late? It’s three in the morning!”

“I was just... coming down to get some of the art supplies I keep down here.”

Gen heard her father sigh in frustration, “You and that art of yours. Will you just go to bed, please? You have school in the morning.”

“...yes, sir.”

Having decided that the father-daughter conversation was finished, Gen began to once again walk alone through the streets of Shibuya. He opened up the paper that she had shoved in his hand. It was a little crumpled from their haste to stay out of trouble, but he could still clearly make out what was on it. His face had been drawn on the piece of paper. She had forgone shading in favor of continuing to bring attention to the lines of his face, but it was amazing. It looked like him. He had to agree with her. He really was a blue. 

Gen carefully folded the sketch and placed it in his pocket, reminding himself to put it in a safe spot when he was finished with his wanderings. He smiled to himself. They hadn’t talked for long, but she intrigued more than anyone else he had ever met. There was no doubt in his mind that he would be seeing Hashimoto Akihana again, and maybe just maybe they really could be friends. He wasn’t lying when he said he’d like that. He would like it very much. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I CAN EXPLAIN. I was hungry when I wrote this.
> 
> Translations  
> Tonkatsu Ramen = a ramen dish made with all of the things I described. (There's a good 300 words dedicated to that ramen y'all)  
> Itadakimasu = a phrase that essentially means "Let's eat"


	4. Chapter 3

“ISHIGAMI!”

A whirlwind of a woman came bursting into the science lab as fierce as a tornado, her hair haphazardly falling out of its messy bun and splotches of dirt smeared across her cheeks and the apron wrapped around her waist. The members of the science club -and the lurkers who stayed around to witness the insanity- all jumped at the shout, instinctually falling back behind the desks to keep as much distance between the madwoman and themselves as possible. 

The green-tipped bok choy headed boy was unfazed, continuing to monitor the data coming from the electrodes connected to the figure dressed head to toe in the armor of a fencer who was having it out with a dummy set up before them. 

Bok choy spared her no more than a glance of acknowledgment, “Well, if it isn’t Hashimoto the elder.”

Akihana stalked towards him, yanking the gardening gloves off of her fingers and slamming her palm down on the desk next to him. “I was cultivating a ginkgo tree. It was barely more than a sapling, and when I got up to the rooftops this afternoon to check on it, what did I find except a stripped little bush of a tree. Those ginkgo leaves were  _ mine,  _ Ishigami!”

His lips quirked and he gestured towards the contraption of flasks and drips sitting on a counter towards the back of the classroom, “Yes, well now they’re being turned into a concentrated extract.”

Amber eyes narrowed in anger, “I didn’t take you for the kind of person to rely on herbal medicine. Y’know I’ve heard that nowadays when boys are having  _ those  _ kinds of problems they just take the little blue pill.”

The person under all of the protective gear laughed and stilled in their onslaught of the dummy. They turned towards the fuming Akihana and the smug Ishigami and pulled the mask from their face, a wave of black hair with the tips colored a soft pastel pink fell around eyes that were the twin to Akihana’s own, “Sorry, Aki, I had another migraine, and you know how this one is,” she tapped her hip against the mad scientist’s, “always trying the find better ways to fix me.” She smiled wistfully for a moment before her expression morphed into one of mischief and the tip of her foil poked Ishigami between the ribs.

He yelped, “Miyuki!”

Miyuki flicked his ear, “What were you thinking, Senku! You know how she gets about her plants. You’ve seen my jungle of a balcony!” Akihana let out a small noise of offense, but Miyuki knew her sister well enough to know that she wasn’t annoyed by her teasing. “Besides,” she grabbed her phone and checked the time, “my sister and I have a restaurant to run.” Neither Senku nor Akihana had time to respond because Miyuki was dragging her sister out of the building and waving goodbye to the perplexed leek haired scientist.

The sisters made it out of the school and headed down the streets of Shibuya, the 109 looming over them and the confused glances of their fellow citizens following them as the two made their way home, one still dressed in padding and one still covered in dirt. They turned into the alley next to the ramen house that led to the steps of their apartment, racing up the stairs and arguing over who got to use the shower first. The black button-downs and jeans their dad considered their work uniforms were donned and the two girls made their way down to  _ Hashimoto Ramen House.  _ Their father Toshiro greeted them will a small grunt of “hello” as he slaved away over the stove and their mother Izumi smiled at them warmly from the small manager’s office she spent her time cooped up in. 

Akihana smiled gently at her sister as they tied their aprons around their waists and got to work, Miyuki opening the register and Akihana prepping the tables in the dining room. “Sooooo...”

Miyuki glanced up at her sister, “So...?”

Akihana unlocked the front door and flipped the sign to open before moving to rest her elbows on the countertop that separated the dining room and the kitchen. She leaned in close to her sister and whispered as quietly as she could so that their dad wouldn’t butt in and give his two cents. “That boy is totally head over heels for you.”

“Aki!” Miyuki hissed, glancing fearfully behind them at their dad who was still engrossed in his greatest love known as ramen, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mmhmm, sure,” teased the eldest of the Hashimoto siblings, booping her sister on the tip of her nose, “I’m sure Ishigami makes strides to advance the study of migraine relief for all the girls. You might as well just combine the science and fencing clubs, seeing as how the two presidents are together  _ all the time. _ ”

A blush rose on Miyuki’s cheeks, and she pointedly returned her attention to ensuring there were extra yen in the register for change. “It’s not like that. Senku and I are just friends. Besides, I don’t even think his brain works that way.” 

The dejected look on her sister’s face caused Akihana to pause, and she reached out to grab Miyuki’s, “Hey, you should’ve told me they were getting worse. I mean, I know they’re not going to kill you or anything, but I’ve seen you holed up in your room in the dark too many times and I just worry about you and--”

“Aki!” Miyuki put her hand over her sister’s mouth, ending her rant prematurely, “it’s alright. I’ll be fine. I love you too.”

The door jingled, announcing their first customer of the day and putting a stopper in the siblings’ conversation. Akihana turned and her breath hitched when she took in the figure that stepped into their humble restaurant. Crystal eyes and a charismatic smirk. 

“Gen!” she beamed, a bright grin stretching across her face as her new friend continued to swagger towards herself and Miyuki.

Miyuki let out a choked sound behind her, “Who now?”

Gen chuckled, glancing between Akihana and whom Gen assumed was her sister but could have very well been her clone. “Am I interrupting something?”

“No!” Miyuki shouted, Akihana wincing at the high pitched shriek in her ear. The younger sister cringed in embarrassment and turned to see their dad was now staring them down with a pointed look telling them to do their job. Miyuki cleared her throat and placed a bashful look on her face as she reoriented herself. “Sorry, yes! Wait I mean NO! Nope! Not interrupting anything!” She grabbed her sister by the collar and pulled her backward to whisper in her ear, “You have so much explaining to do,  _ onee-chan _ .” Miyuki popped the register and morphed into their father’s version of the perfect server. “Welcome to Hashimoto Ramen House! What can I get you today?”

“I think I’ll have a bowl of Tonkatsu, please,” Gen replied, sending a wink towards Akihana who flushed and busied herself with wiping down the tables.

Miyuki also noticed, and looked near ready to jump out her skin that her spinster of a sister had finally managed to snag a love interest. “Of course! Anything else I can get for you?”

“No, I think that’s all.”

“Alrighty! Then that’ll be 700 yen. Feel free to sit wherever. We’ll have that out for you in a minute!”

Gen placed a few coins in Miyuki’s palm and turned to sit in a booth in a more private corner of the restaurant. Miyuki recounted the order for her father, who proceeded to prepare the bowl of noodles in what had to have been record time. The bowl and a packet of chopsticks were deposited into Akihana’s waiting hands to be delivered to their waiting patron. Akihana stepped out of the kitchen with the noodles carefully balanced and a polite smile plastered on her face.

“Here you go!” she said, her voice intentionally raised for her father to hear, “Enjoy!” she glanced back to see Miyuki send her two thumbs up before she proceeded to distract their dad. Akihana slipped into the booth across from Gen and spoke in a hushed tone. “What’re you doing here?”

He shrugged, a broke the chopsticks apart before digging into his bowl, “What? I can’t visit a friend?” Gen smirked, a habit she’d noticed he was very fond of in the short time she had known him. “Besides, we didn’t exactly get to finish our conversation last time we were in this situation.”

“Well, what do you want to talk about, then? I can’t promise this talk won’t finish as abruptly as the last one.” She gestured around her. “My dad’ll have my head if I’m being ‘unproductive.’”

“No worries,” he said, slurping up his noodles, “I understand. I guess I mostly just came to ask for your number. I didn’t get a chance to ask for it when you were running me out of here.”

Akihana giggled bashfully, “Yeah... sorry about that.” The bell of the door jingled, and a small family walked in and proceeded to the register to make their orders with Miyuki who was making a number of different hand signals all of which were her of telling Akihana to hurry it up.

“Your sister is quite something,” Gen chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, she is.” Akihana pulled a napkin from the pocket of her apron and hurriedly scribbled the digits of her phone number on the floppy piece of paper. She slid it over to Gen, who held onto it almost reverently. “If I don’t hear from you, I think I might be disappointed.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Gen smiled, an actual smile that seemed to appear so rarely on his face. She liked his real smile much better. “I’ll be sure to keep in touch. Now get back to work, Hashimoto.”

“Yes, sir,” Akihana saluted, returning to the kitchens and her waitressing duties. When she turned back around it was like he had never been there, he snuck out so quickly. Her phone dinged in her pocket and when she pulled it out a simple “c u soon” popped up onscreen from an unknown number. She smiled, and saved him under Charismatic Bastard, entirely too ready for “soon” to get here as quick as it could. 


End file.
